Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-07-02


 Amazing Number of Small Dishes.
 The Landlord and His Dag Bog"
 ''1Ir. Brown"
 Now we rattle off at a terrific pace of at least fifteen miles an hour, for this train is tho night express to ChriStiania, and ID two hours we reach our stopping place, StOrCn, where we are to leave the train anc
 tako carrioles. The engine gives single,
 sharp little toot twhy Is it that all trans
 atlantc locomotives have such poor voicessi
 and slowly pulls it's lead away We cast Q glance at OUT surroundings The station l' . pretty wooden building, with flowers abous it, and not very different from sonIe of the newer and more tasteful railroad sta tious in New England. At a little distance
 Is the hOtel, a small, but very neat i'm At
 a worl from us a couple of boys arc on
 hand 70 carry up the single small trlml
 which we have been advised to take with
 us The shawl strap, bag and knapsac& We
 bear ourselves.
 One look at the green, moist sides of the
 mountains on either hand; at tho bluc sl1-
 oyerheai, bright with the last rays of the
 setting sun; at tho picturesque but small
 and backward fields of ripening grain, and
 at the neat home surroundings il front or
 
 us, makes us cry out: .'Oh. if all the places
 we come to are to be as pretty as this won't
 it be psrfectly''- and the sentence is cut
 short by the opening of the door. It is the
 wife of the proprietor who comes. He, by the way, k also the station master of the
 manifestation in Norway always meaning a post station-and, with a pleasant smile,
 she rvites us in. We try, but in vain, to
 explain our wants in English. The hostess
 understands us not. "Hurrah" We cry,
 "at last we have come to place where English is not spoken" But no, here comes her husband, who addresses us in OUT native tongue.
 Perhaps the reader would like to know what language is spoken commonly in Norway and the answer might well bs "English'-for the British traveller has so pervalel this northern land that the in habtants thereof have been compelled. al most m self defense, to learn the language of the incoming nation. For no true son of Albion ever, in any country, speaks any language but his own good English. Of cOurse, the proper tongue of Norway IS Nor wegian, an offShOOt Of Danish and descend ant of the old Morse But English IS taught in the public schools, and except in the re- mote country districts, it is possible to
 
 of Norwegian In fact, it is difficult to learn the native tongue only, because all the eluca5ed people one meets, and almost every Norwegian Is well educated, know enough English to wish practice speaking it with travellers.
 Aft.r v.c have explained our wishes to the complaisant landlord, we are shown to tho nratest of rooms, with clean, bare wooden floors tcarpets are scarcely known and still more rarely seem, and ''Aftenmad'' Is soon announced It k now 9:30, Vet no candles are nesded In the autumn and winter, how ever, darkness comes much earlier, and the nights are long. But what are We offered at this, our first country supper, the supper which is fair sample of what we are to find at every post station We'll. rye bread of two kinds but no fem for white hrOd !" butter and milk in quantity unlimited, and tea or coffee. There are sundry small dishes before us, each containing some one of the numerous varieties Of cheese. or uIys- tic number, three slices of ham or smoked salmon. or three slices of saylsage or three slices of another kind of sausage, or three radishes. The nun Der of these small dishes is amazing. The nervous little English lady sitting opposite drawls out: "Oh, do you like these little diShes' Oh, l think they are beastly. don't youi They set one so muddled, yoI know, " and VIC synpatl ize with her. for We. too. ara discon1ented with these unSatisfying .'mor- oeluN.' \ bottle of Worcestershire saucs Ends cOnsenial company in a neighborins .ar of English mixed pickles-with the ac- ccnt on the linked. ' But these arc simply | appetizeZs or relishes; the substantials are 1 yet to come. Meat, real Yankee meat" I" | 1F m sffsrvfa piping hot, with a delicious brown gravy | poured in over tho thick slices. is now brought in on covered dish with conlpan- | lon il the shape of . similar dish of boiled | potatoes.
 We fall to- needless of whether the | ''meat' be beef, mutton, or venison, for every t'avCler in Norway i5 blessed or cursed | ns the individual case may be, with an in- | satiablc appetite. Next comes that accom- rauimcut of all Norwegian breakfasts and | suqpers, the patient setting hen. whose DOT celain nest Is always full of delicious, fresh eSss- Nherc the eggs come from Is a mys- tery, for hens are scarce. with the exception of this china table compalion of ours; but though the fowls are rarely to bo seen. there Is no scarcity Of eSgs. This unsolyed riddle must b9 left tO some future explorer to un- Told and explain. This is our supper. and the breakfast is to be much like 1t, with. perhaps, slight diminutiOn in the mum Der of eheeses But it is high time to retire t an early start k tO be made in the morn nS. The landlord comes with the so-called Ing bog day booS1 in his hands and ws earl what are the necessary Preluninarics to vehicles at Norwegian posting iation. First, the name is to bc inscribed n the dag bog, then the date the place of r nwf1 | wanted. In some of the older registers Facc is left where complaints or wor,ls of 'ommendation may be written. Here are cund the names of all who have passed over Inc roac for the last two years or more
 Especially prominent is the nar,c of John Brown, London, England, '' to which adied occasionally, "On foot" or s.On oos with knapsack. ' written in heavy black clarac1ers. This name is in almost very dag bog VIC sec. We finally meet lr. Brown himself. He is a short man 'Ith a brown beard, and, Ike all Enrlish- nen, Is smoking briarwooJ pipe. He ia s iaml lar IT. manner as he is loud in | beech, and wears huge hobnailed shoes. He } never weary of hearing himself talk. and me, is what Frenchmen call .'lefacheux'i in plain English, bore. IL may be tbat e isa uadesman of for two or three weeks, acation. Ho always succeeds in making lmseh disaSreeab.e wherever he may be- pr no wishes people to understand that he is n Ensishman and from London. England hen he reaches southern Norway. where -ngi-Si people are in greater numbers. be aoSides 2 lit e, and, fearful of seeing some ne Sho knows him, decides that it is wiser ? drop London and register himself t .tIinin !. ngnam, wherc hs home really k. | l,l.. ms IS but one form of the impudent Q 4'i 'Ier 'ill4s1er >Iten met with in Scandinavia, a oston Herald.
 isaac Murphy, tho colo-ed American lcEeyi ls the nearest aoDrosch wa ba,-, +- | =,